Aircraft turret



July 25, 1 939. F. AMIOT 2,167,561

AIRCRAFT 'runam' Filed Jan. 24, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Inv'enior Fh'a'14722605" F. AMIOT AIRCRAFT TURRET July 25, 1939.

Filed Jan. 24, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Jkvenior IZOZJJC 14722505 July25, 1939. F. AMIOT 251675561 AIRCRAFT TURRE'I Filed Jan. 24, 1938 3Sheets-Sheet s turn? y a rets into expanded positions.

- grammatic manner, an airplane fitted with fight- Patented is, 25, was

@NETEQ Amfcmm'r 'rmaaa'r Flix Amiot, Neuilly-sur-Seinc, FranceApplication January 24, 1938, Serial No. 186,746 In Luxemburg January25, 1937 3 Claims. (Cl. 89--37.5)

The present invention relates to aircraft turrets and it is moreespecially, although not exclusively, concerned with airplanes of thiskind.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide a flying machineof this type which is better adapted to meet the requirements ofpractice and especially which permits firing in all directions andensures switching into fighting order so quickly that it makes reflexfiring possible, while preserving the best possible lift/drag ratio.

' The essential feature of the present invention consists in fittingaircraft of the type above mentioned with fighting turrets, eachpreferably including several guns capable of firing in differentdirections, mounted in 'a retractable manner so as to be movabletogether with their crews, which can thus remain constantly at theirfighting stations, the whole'being such that the time necessary foropening fire with said' guns is reduced to that necessary for projectingsaid tur- In the following specification and, claims, it should be wellunderstood that the word turret" 5 is taken in its broadest meaning,including any closed structure containing at least one gun and room forthe gunner or gunners.

According to another feature of the present invention, the aircraft ofthe type with which the present invention is concerned include at leasttwofighting turrets, corresponding respectively to two distinct zones ofspace, for instance the space above the aircraft and the space below it,these two turrets being arranged in such manner that they can be fullyretracted inside a fairing of aerodynamic .shape as pure as possible andconstituted for instance by the fuselage, in the case of an airplane. l

Still another feature of the present invention consists in providing anaircraft of the type above referred to with two retractable fightingturrets the displacements of which are simultaneous.

, Other features of the present invention will result from the followingdetailed description of some specific embodiments thereof.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafterdescribed, with reference to the accompanying di 'awings, given merelyby way of example, and in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing, in a diaing turrets retractableaccording to the presentinvention, these turrets being shown, in thisview, in the expanded position;

- airplane structure, in a fixed manner, fighting turrets or theequivalent which projected in suitcrating said turrets;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic end view corresponding to Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view, analogous to Fig. 4, showing the arrangement of thesystem according to the 'present invention in the case of an airplane asshown by Fig. 3;

Fig. '7 is an end view of a part of Fig. 6.

In the following specific description, it will be assumed that it isdesired to provide a fighting plane with which it is possible, in anyposition, to fire in the direction of an enemy present in any portion ofthe space around the airplane.

First, it should be remarked that, up to now, the most practicalsolution to this problem that had been suggested consisted in fitting onthe able manner from the fuselage. As a rule, cording to thisconstruction, there was provided a pair of fighting turrets, to wit anupper turret and an under turret, intended to fire respectively in theportions of the space located above and below the aircraft, each ofthese turrets being fitted with several guns corresponding each to adistinct zone of action of sector in the portion V of the spacecorresponding to the turret.

Such a solution of the problem makes it possible to keep the gun crewsconstantly at their fighting stations, near the guns, but it does notany longer correspond to the requirements of practice, because theturrets, although suitably faired,'considerab1y increase the drag andreduce the speed of the aircraft in an exaggerated manner.

.On the other hand, it is known to provideon the fuselage rotary turretswhich are partly or Wholly retractable. But with arrangements of thiskind it is impossible to act sufilciently quickly the gunner must enterit, and the whole must be 55 possible to act simultaneously in severaldistinct 1 sectors.

The arrangement according to the present invention makes it possibleboth to preserve, under best possible iift/ drag ratio. and to actwithin the shortest possible time aaginst an enemy either in one sectoror in several sectors simultaneously.

With these objects in view, according to present invention, theairplane, considered as a whole, is devised in such manner that thelift/drag ratio is as high as possible. For instance, said airplane maybe advantageously made of the monoplane type, as shown by the drawings,with a fuselage of streamlined shape as pure as possible, the transversesections thereof being, for instance,

circular; as shown by the drawings, or oval shaped.

As for the armament of this airplane, it is so devised. that it isretractable, preferably in a complete manner, inside the fuselage, andthat, whatever be the position of the parts thereof, the crews canalways remain near their guns or their instruments, in the positionsthey must occupy for working them.

It will be readily understood that, with such an arrangement, if thearmament includes a multiplicity of guns or other firearms,corresponding to various sectors of the space, and if the means forbringing said armament into fighting position as soon as one enemy hasbeen seen are sumciently quick, it is possible to practise reflex firingin any direction whatever.

According to the arrangementwhich seems to be most favorable,thearmament is placed in two turrets, such as i and 2 (Figs. 1 to 3inclusive).

These turrets are arranged to comply with the following conditions:

They can be respectively projected above and below the mean horizontalplane of the fuselage. being for instance either located exactly aboveeach other (Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5) or located behind one another (Figs. 3and 6), the whole being of course devised in such manner that thebalance of the airplane is not disturbed when said turrets projectoutwardly from the fuselage; and

They "are each provided with several firearms such as guns 3, arrangedin such manner as to be able to sweep respective sectors of thecorresponding'upper or lower field of action.

Concerning now the structure of these turrets,

it may be of any known kind employed in connection with airplanes thearmament of which is notretractable. For instance, these turrets can beconstituted by boxes including for instance frames such as 4 or 5 (Figs.4 and 5), to which frames are fixed covers with holes for the On theinside of these turrets, I provide seats 6 or floors forsupporting thegunners. The latter may be in any position, for instance seated orkneeling, as shown, or lying or even standing, if there is room enoughfor this.

In the drawings, and in the embodiment having two turrets superposedabove each other (Figs. 1 and 2), I have shown a structure of a sizesuch that the gunners of the two turrets can be superposedin the seatedposition, without interfering with one another.

I respective turrets. normal conditions of flight of the aircraft, the a.many suitable manners, provided that they permit a quickness ofmovement as high as possiblr for passing from the retracted position tothe expanded position. These means may include any suitable source ofenergy.

Preferably, and according to another feature of the present invention,these means are so devised that they ensure simultaneous movements ofthe Furthermore, when these turrets are movable in the verticaldirection. it is advantageous to take advantage of the differences ofweight between the two turrets for obtaining one of the displacementsunder the effect of gravity.

For practical purposes, the lower turret will be made heavier than theother one and it will move the whole into fighting position. Besides, inany case, the displacement of said lower turret is generally. greater,which corresponds to a greater work supplied by it.

In order to-obtain such simultaneous displacements of the turrets, I mayhave recourse to either of the two following arrangements: a. Both ofthe turrets are connected, separately,

to the. sourceof energy; and

b. Only one of these turrets is connected to said source and suitablekinematic means are provided between said-turrets for combining theirrespective movements.

When use is made oi" the action of gravity, 1

provide clutch means for disengaging, during the.

displacement produced by said action of gravity, the source of energy,which is to act only for displacement in the opposite direction.

In the drawings, I have shown in Figs. 4 to 6 systems according to theinvention which are driven by means of electric motors M.- The frames 4,5 which carry the turrets are, for instance, guided along suitableslideways formed by angle irons 1.

Motor M, which is mounted between slideways I, is adapted to drivethrough clutches 9 two cable systems which make it possible to transmitforces to the four comers of frames 4 and 5.. These systems include, forinstance, endless cables Ma, Mb passing. over sprockets I0 and pulleysII, I: and 43. The cables are crossed so that the opposed verticalportions Ma Ila and "b Mb respectively of said cables always movesimultaneousiy in'the same direction, either up or down. The turretframes 4, 5 are secured to these vertical cable portions, and thusvertical movements of the frames are obtained as the cables move.Portions Ma and b of the cables are formed as chains which engage thesprockets ID.

The drive is transmitted to the frames 4, 5 through ing turrets I and 2to be in retracted position, it

is sufficient for ejecting them outwardly, to disengage the clutchconnections at 9, the desired movement being immediately obtained by theaction of gravity. On the contrary, if it is desired to bring back theturrets into retracted position, the electric motor is started afterhaving engaged the clutch connections 9. Frames 4, 5

Of course, when the turrets are being retracted,

the guns are moved back inside the turrets, in

- such manner as not to interfere with the operation. of course, itshould be well understood that holes or housings such as 25 may beprovided in the fuselage for receiving said guns.

According to still another feature of the present invention, thefighting turrets are made of a shape such that they leave laterallybetween themselves and the walls of the fuselage, free spaces II inwhich can be arranged firearms l8 (visible in dotted lines in Fig. 5)which make it possible to fire in lateral sectors.

Whatever be the embodiment that is chosen, I obtain a system theoperation of which is believed to result sufilciently clearly, from thepreceding description, to make it unnecessary further to explain it.This system has, over systems for the same purpose existing at thepresent time, the following advantages:

It permits reflex firing, in any direction, while maintaining, for theretracted position of the fighting turrets, the best possible lift/dragratio for the airplane;

It includes only very simple devices for ensuring the rectracting.

This results from the fact that, owing to the kinematic systems whichare shown (and which might be replaced by any others of the same kind) 7it is sufliclent to apply the retraction or ejection efi'ort at only onepoint.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosedwhat I deem to be practical and efiicient embodiments of the presentinvention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to, belimited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement,disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principleof the present invention as comprehended within the scope of theappended claims.

For instance, both of the turrets, with their armaments, might be ofequal weights, so as to balance each other, and, in this case, themotive means for producing the outward movement of the turrets wouldhave to overcome merely the frictional resistances due to displacementof the turrets in their guides.

What I claim is:

1. In an aircraft, a body, a pair of turrets, means mounting saidturrets for movement into and out of the body in upward and downwardmovement respectively, and means operatively connecting said turrets forsimultaneous movement into and ,out of the body whereby the weight ofone turret at least partially balances the weight of the other.

2. In an aircraft as claimed in claim 1, the second turret being heavierthan the first whereby said turrets may be moved out of the body bygravity.

3. In an aircraft, a body, a pair of turrets having their centers in thesame plane transverse to the fore and aft axis of the aircraft, meansmounting said turrets for rectilinear movement .of their centers in saidplane into and out of the body in opposite directions along the sameaxis. and means operatively connection said turrets for simultaneousmovement into and out of the body.

FELIX AMIOT.

